Chapter Text
This was not how they had planned this excursion; a simple reconnaissance mission had escalated all too quickly, and they found themselves fleeing a planet that by all rights should have been a safe haven. Lana found her gaze wandering the bridge, the next few minutes were after all critical to their survival.
Both Vaieo and Koth were working at the controls as if they had worked together for years although looking closely the Twi'lek appeared to be doing most of the work, with Koth making the smaller but necessary adjustments, she smirked to herself, it appeared he had been relegated to co-pilot. In Lana’s eyes this was the preferred combination, especially now they were trying with rapidly increasing urgency to escape their pursuers. Vaeio was the better pilot in her somewhat biased opinion, yes, she was headstrong and admittedly rather irritating but when she put her mind to it, she was an irreplaceable member of her growing team. Lana only wished she and Theron had been correct about Arron Prime, Zakuul forces should not have been here, instead they found themselves facing a blockade.
There was no feasible way that this world was a location of safety for Lana and her allies, Lana had assumed, nay hoped the experience would be different. Although she had to admit, she should have expected this outcome.
She knew that if any form of alliance were to last, she had to find a location suitable for all involved in the venture. Taking down an Empire would not be easy, she had seen this first-hand with the Sith Empire, it survived repeated attacks from the Republic and despite everything they had done in efforts to ensure its destruction it had prevailed. Not even Zakuul had succeeded.
She was somewhat experienced at controlling her own survival along with that of her allies, her time on Korriban and with Sith Intelligence had seen to that, but ensuring a new factions survival as they entered into a galaxy wide war, that was not something she could see herself undertaking with any amount of success. They could not afford to make similar mistakes to those that has occurred during their adventures on the moon of Yavin IV.
The occupation, if you could call it that considering the Revanites controlled most of the jungle, had brought with it complications, granted they had little choice when it came to location while they pursued Revan. The temporary truce had barely held, their leaders conflicted, their soldiers suspected, but by the end they all respected. The subject of that respect took the form of a single Jedi. Sathyan brought unity where there should have been none, even across a planet seeped in the dark side.
Any alliance needed to embrace force neutrality, a strength Zakuul abused. But one they would respect, Sathyan would not be just a leader but an Icon. A true example of what you could be, the principles of a Jedi unbound by a code, the power of a Sith not controlled by corruption and primal desires. Admittedly Lana had her own reasons for rescuing her Jedi, but she was who they needed despite them, the one person people would follow, a Pariah, a Conqueror, a would-be Martyr and most importantly a Hero.
They would need a place they could not only survive but thrive, a place where they could build the foundations of a new society, one where they were not controlled by corrupt governments or steeped in fear of an absent dictator, a future that broke unnecessary perceptions, a new paradigm which they now knew would not be founded on Arron Prime.
Her mind was unceremoniously pulled from her thoughts as the ship shuddered, a distant alarm went off but was quickly silenced by their pilot with a muttered curse. Lana grabbed her seat as the ship shuddered again, looking out into space she could see the ships ahead seemingly spinning, it took her a moment to realise it was actually their own vessel that was manoeuvring erratically, the Eternal Fleet blockade that had arrived out of hyperspace moments ago was now vanishing from the view screen as they spun vertically bringing the ship back on themselves down the path they had just taken, with one difference. They were flying upside down.
Once the were relatively clear, with enough distance between them and their pursuers, the ship was brought into a soft roll and levelled out, they were heading back towards the planet. Lana watched with no small amount of amazement how the pilots were working almost silently and in near perfect sync.
Despite their differences, at least they can work together. Lana thought to herself, pleased for at least once in their time together they weren’t at each other’s throats.
“Get a new ship he says” Vaieo began mockingly from the pilot’s seat. “Enlist the help of my crew he says” her hands adjusting controls with ease as she directed her gaze over to her colleague.
Or not...
“We haven’t had that many problems” Koth retorted folding his arms, which caused the Twi'lek to send him a glare, he quickly returned his hands to a set of controls marked stabilizers.
“No not all" She replied sweetly her anger gone as if it were never there “We are being chased by the Eternal Fleet, which is great!” the last few words were filled with so much mock enthusiasm that Lana nearly cringed, but she maintained her composure.
“It’s one ship, the rest are only stopping us leaving the system”
“Same thing!” Vaieo shouted as weapon fire hit their ship causing a shudder, Vaieo cursed before she continued berating her co-pilot “Why the hell did you insist on a former military ship?”
“Weapons!” Koth all but shouted letting out a frustrated groan.
“My ship has weapons” the Twi'lek retorted instantly, before looking toward him with a disapproving glare “Plus you didn’t even forge clearance codes”
Lana rolled her eyes at the exchange; this was getting them nowhere fast the only saving grace was the fact they were still focused on flight over fight. She turned her attention away from the duo to look at the various displays, power levels were normal, shield integrity was holding and weapons were priming, she glanced across to Tora who was the one preparing the weapon systems, the bluenette looked around to her and smirked before she twirled her finger around her ear and nodded towards their pilots, Tora’s actions brought the verbal battle back into Lana’s focus as Koth tried to defend himself.
“... least we had a few minutes! Your ship would have been spotted the moment we entered the system!”
“Exactly, they would have been confused why a freighter was in Wild Space” Vaieo responded with what could only be described as glee, “It’s so overt it’s covert!”
“You mean it’s so old that it’s not worth shooting down” Koth replied with a chuckle.
“I swear we didn’t need you; I would shoot you in the face” the Twi’lek said through gritted teeth.
“Take us down” Lana said when she noticed a change in the fleet ahead “We can try and lose them in the atmosphere”
“Are you insane?” Koth suddenly asked taking his hands off the controls and turning to face her which caused Vaeio to reach over and make some of her own changes with a shocked gasp.
“No, I am quite sane” Lana replied “Yet the pair of you seem to be lacking a few brain cells as you do not seem to realise that up here we can easily be shot down, while down there we will hopefully lose the current ship chasing us and not have to worry the two that have just broken off the blockade”
“Kriff” Vaieo said suddenly as she glanced at the displays to her right “Lana’s right, beginning a decent pattern, Koth make yourself useful"
“I hope you know what you are doing” Koth said returning his hands to controls.
“We’re safe” she replied, before adding “I’m not you” Vaieo sounded smug as she spoke and Tora burst out laughing at the comment.
With all adjustments made the ship lurched slightly as it was brought into a sharp decent. Vaieo made a few alterations to their decent pattern and the ship steadied, the weapons fire from the fleet ships didn’t help matters but the pilots kept their nerve as they worked once more in silence as the ship approached the atmosphere at speed.
“Weapons locking on” Tora shouted just before the ship alerted them of the same.
“Damn” Koth replied he seemed like he was about to do something, but he didn’t get the chance.
Vaieo suddenly adjusted the controls causing them to spin and veer off course, Lana glanced at monitors nearby and saw that they were safe for the moment. They steadied again and Koth adjusted their course again as Vaeio turned to Lana “Recalibrate shields to the aft section, try to cover the engines.” She turned back and brought the ship into a sharper decent “We are going to get hit regardless, may as well put on a show” As Lana turned towards her controls, she saw through the viewscreen that were heading towards the planet again. Lana began adjusting the shields as Koth started questioning their pilot.
“Are you mad?” Koth asked sounding confused.
“Furious! This is a new ship” she replied with a chuckle, Lana could tell it wasn’t sincere, everybody knew their lives were in danger, but all the same she knew the Twi'lek was trying to keep them distracted from the fact they may all die any minute.
Before Koth could counter the ship lurched heavily just before Lana could finish her shield adjustments. Warning alarms began to sound signalling some form of serious damage to the ship. Lana noticed from her station that one of the engines was operating on half power, it was still running, but with the newfound damage it wasn’t generating enough power to finish what she needed to do.
“Satisfied” Vaieo snapped at Koth as she brought the ship into a erratic but controlled decent. The ship shuddered again.
“We’ve lost power to the starboard engine” Tora said before Lana could.
“Great we’re crashing” Koth said as he adjusted his safety harness, Lana and Tora began doing the same.
“Crashing?” Vaieo chirped “I prefer the term chaotic landing” as she adjusted her own harness. “Besides, now the show can really begin, hold onto your butts!”
Lana watched as the planet drew closer and closer, they broke the atmosphere, and still their speed didn’t change, their angle however did as Vaeio made adjustments, the ground was rapidly approaching now, she felt the impact as the ship made contact and began ploughing through the trees moments later everything went black.
*****
She could recall that moment with near perfect clarity. Almost two years now and she still remembered it, like she did with most things that had occurred over the past five years. Whether or not this ability was a gift or curse she remained undecided, but one thing Lana knew was that she had never felt more alone. In the last year her bond with her Jedi had faded, so much so that it was almost non-existent there had been times when Lana was sure that it had faded all together, but she had one stark reminder that she was alive, this reminder was thankfully silent for the moment.
She was standing in the hanger of a ship she had hired to bring them to their destination, the team she had assembled were preparing a shuttle for the final part of their journey, but Lana was focused on the planet outside the force-field and not what her team were doing behind her.
Looking at Zakuul, she knew now that from this point forward there was no going back, the culmination of her work over the past five years was finally within reach.
The time had come to save her Jedi, she trusted each member of her team, but doubt filled her thoughts all the same, she needed to save Sathyan and she knew that together they could do it, if they continued to put their differences aside.
Although, Lana had to admit she was nervous, if this went wrong, it was over she would lose the women she loved. But the galaxy would lose the hero it needed, she allowed herself a soft chuckle as a thought surfaced in her mind, she could see Sathyan appear in her minds eye rolling her own eyes as she often did whenever anybody implied that she was a hero. Her smile faded quickly however as reality reasserted itself.
A moment of anger flashed through her mind, but she reigned it in, she could not afford to lose control, not now, so she clenched her shaking fist at her side ensuring it was out of the view of anybody who may be passing, she would not show weakness, but now she had no anger filling her mind she was left with only doubt, her instinct was to bite her lip in worry and she did, she may be Sith but she was still Human, perhaps she should allow herself this brief moment of weakness after all.
If the worst came to pass, she wasn’t sure if she would want to continue after everything that had happened in the past five years, handling all of this alone, while watching everything she knew being destroyed or perverted beyond recognition, who wouldn’t be affected? Thankfully she was pulled from her morbid thoughts when she heard footsteps coming from behind her, judging by their even spacing and the pace of which they approached, Lana knew they were imperial, meaning her Agent had come to find her.
“My Lord, we are ready to make our approach” Agent Rys said as Lana turned to face her, the Imperial fell into a parade stance “Mister Vortena is on the bridge and HK is awaiting deployment.”
“Very good Agent” Rys saluted and turned to leave.
Lana watched her go, thinking of the Empire, the Empire she had chose to abandon, no the Empire that had abandoned them. Her loyalty was to Sathyan, she smiled and placed her hand to her heart. Soon my love. She then followed her Agent and boarded the shuttle.
*****
The shuttle lurched as it came into orbit and Lana moved through the corridors to meet HK and Agent Rys, the mission was about to begin, and everyone was getting ready. In the time it took her to arrive in the entryway, the Twi'lek had changed from her imperial uniform and into some combat armour, made of some shine less black alloy no doubt intended for covert operations, she was also carrying a handmade but well-maintained rifle.
“I will contact you when I’m in position" Rys said as the ship slowed, HK pulled the door open as the Twi'lek took a few paces back before running at the opening and leaping onto a nearby roof, she landed in a roll and was quickly lost as the ship continued on.
Lana was next to drop, HK grabbed her as she lost her footing as they gained altitude, after a moment to regain her composure she nodded both in thanks and to signify she was okay, HK at this stage lowered his hand. Lana took a few deep breaths when Koth gave her the signal and much like her Agent she took several steps back before running forward and leaping from the ship as they flew above her drop zone.
She was falling too fast, so she used the force to fight against the winds, to keep herself on course and slow her descent , as she was about to hit the roof she used the force one last time to cushion her landing, it wasn’t graceful as she hoped it would be, but it was successful none the less and that was enough.
Rising to her feet she dusted herself off and double checked she had her lightsaber, she was about to move on, but she felt a weight on the back of her belt, so she reached round taking a hold of the item and bringing into view. Sathyans blade, painstakingly repaired and restored to its former glory albeit with some assistance, she sighed as her heartbeat increased, she hoped she wasn’t too late and moved towards the edge of the roof gently placing the weapon next to her own, where it belonged, together, just like Lana and her Jedi.
Making her way quickly across the roof tugging her hood into position also ensuring the weapons were hidden. Once she reached the edge, she paused for just a moment and then with a sigh she dropped from the roof into a side alley, taking a moment before she moved she took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves and made for the street at the end of the alley.
As she neared she caught a glimpse of gold, so she quickly pushed herself back against the wall and remained in the shadows as a group of Knights walked past, once they had moved on she walked out of the alley and watched them continue on, she glanced around to get her bearings she moved on making sure she was lost in the crowd as she made her way to the rendezvous point.
Eventually after a few close calls she reached her destination, to most it would seem like any other of the other buildings under renovation near The Spire. But for those who knew this was a staging ground, when she entered, she removed her hood and was greeted by one of the only people she could call friend. Theron Shan smiled and held out his hand, Lana took it and was pulled into a soft friendly hug.
“Nearly there Lana" he said as she pulled away, his smile proved infectious, but it didn’t assuage the unwelcome feeling of unease in her stomach.
“Finally," Lana said sadly “I just hope we are not too late"
“Almost" came the voice. She didn’t need to turn around to know that Valkorion was behind her again. “I won’t leave her to die" he gave a laugh as he walked through a frozen Theron, “Unlike some people" he met her gaze and gave her a sinister smile as he faded away.
Theron appeared to shiver once time resumed, Lana knew that it hadn’t really stopped and she was just perceiving the conversation in her own head through the force, but it was unnerving either way.
“...na, Lana!” Theron said wearing a worried expression.
“I'm sorry" she said softly.
“You okay, you are really pale"
“I'll be fine” She replied straightening her posture. “Are we ready to go?”
“Ready when you are, love” came another voice, Lana smiled when she glanced across at the Cathar girl. “Let’s go save us a Jedi, yeah” Lana watched as she placed a few items in her pack, including the cure they had synthesised for carbonite poisoning.
“Let’s go” she said walking to the end of the room and through into a side alleyway on the other side of the building.
“Okay” Theron’s voice came over their communicators “Secure connection established, Cenna, your encryption is something else” he sounded impressed.
“I try my best” Agent Rys replied. “I have a view of the bridge”
“Excellent, we are nearly there” Lana said as they neared one of the Spires many maintenance entrances.
“So, not that I’m planning on shooting holes in our entire plan” her Cathar medic said softly “But how do you plan to get the two of us into one of the most secure buildings in the city?”
“Jen” Theron said “You should know by now we always have a plan"
“In position” Lana said stopping outside the door, a series of beeps filled the channel as the door opened “Good Morning TeeSeven” Lana said to which the droid chirped happily.